1. To undertake an internationally co-ordinated demersal trawling survey of the North Sea.
2. Obtain temperature and salinity profiles at each trawling station.
3. To carry out a comparative fishing exercise with the German research vessel Walter Herwig III.
4. To intensively map a series of boxes (3*3 nautical miles) to determine habitat type and variability.
5. Obtain low nutrient water seawater samples from statistical rectangle 45F1 (or an adjacent rectangle).

Narrative

Scotia sailed from Aberdeen at 1030 on 25 July. Work commenced on the station east of Aberdeen and three survey stations were completed during the first day. During the night of 25 July a series of transects were completed, covering the site of the last trawl station of the day, in order to map the habitat type and variability of the sea bed. The next two days were spent covering the survey stations off the east coast of Scotland, with trawling being done during the day and acoustic mapping being done through the night. On the morning of 28 July Scotia commenced a comparative fishing exercise in the region of the Buzzard Field (44E9). A total of 14 randomly selected trawls were completed on 28 and 29 July with contact being maintained with the German research vessel (Walther Herwig III). Scotia resumed work on the fishing survey on the morning of 30 July and worked west towards the Moray Firth stations. The vessel then worked northwards, completing stations off the Orkney and Shetland Islands before moving onto the northern part of the survey area. Scotia entered Norwegian waters on 4 August, completing four stations before docking in Stavanger on the morning of 5 August for the mid cruise break.

Scotia sailed at 0800 the following morning and resumed work on the stations west of the Norwegian coast. With favourable weather conditions, Scotia completed the stations in the northern part of the survey area before moving into the Danish sector on 10 August. Stations in the Danish, German and Dutch sectors were covered over the next five days before Scotia returned to the UK sector on 14 August and worked in the Dogger Bank area. Strong winds on the evening of 14 August resulted in the cancellation of acoustic and benthic sampling for the night. A slight decrease in wind strength allowed trawling to continue the next day with acoustic sampling being resumed on the evening of 15 August. Work continued uninterrupted off the north east coast of England until the survey was completed on the evening of 17 August. Scotia docked in Aberdeen at 0630 on 18 August.

Density of the water columnTransmittance and attenuance of the water columnElectrical conductivity of the water columnChlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodiesVertical spatial coordinatesSalinity of the water columnTemperature of the water column

Density of the water columnTransmittance and attenuance of the water columnElectrical conductivity of the water columnChlorophyll pigment concentrations in water bodiesVertical spatial coordinatesSalinity of the water columnTemperature of the water column